Social Security Uncertainty and Demand for Retirement Saving

There is evidence of a relation between numeracy and wealth held outside of pensions and Social Security. With pensions and Social Security accounting for half of wealth at retirement, and evidence that those with pensions save more in other forms, one would expect to find knowledge of pensions and Social Security influencing retirement saving. Yet we find no evidence that knowledge of pensions and Social Security is related to nonpension, non-Social Security wealth, to numeracy, or that it plays an intermediate role in the numeracy-wealth relation. Our findings raise questions about policies that would enhance numeracy to increase retirement saving.

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Retirement Saving and Decumulation in a Persistent Low-Return Environment

10.1093/oso/9780198827443.003.0009 ◽

2018 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Jason J. Fichtner ◽

Jason S. Seligman

Keyword(s):

Interest Rate ◽

Social Security ◽

Interest Rates ◽

Asset Allocation ◽

Management Strategies ◽

Wealth Management ◽

Retirement Saving ◽

Rate Environment ◽

Alternative Responses ◽

Retirement Study

The current retirement environment presents challenges, not only over the period for which interest rates remain low, but also once interest rates appreciably increase. This chapter addresses two related questions: first, how have households responded to the current low interest rate environment, and second, are there alternative responses or investments which households might do well to consider? We employ the Health and Retirement Study to first investigate impacts of the low interest rate on savings, wealth, and asset allocation. We also report on a subset of households who were relatively successful at building and preserving wealth over this period. Following this, we consider alternative portfolio and wealth management strategies targeting increases in equities and delayed claiming of Social Security in terms of their potential to add value in persistent low return environments.

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How Much Should the Poor Save for Retirement? Data and Simulations on Retirement Income Adequacy among Low-earning Households

Remaking Retirement ◽

10.1093/oso/9780198867524.003.0009 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 167-183

Author(s):

Andrew G. Biggs

Keyword(s):

Social Security ◽

Low Income ◽

Retirement Income ◽

Retirement Savings ◽

Lower Income ◽

Income Adequacy ◽

Retirement Saving ◽

Investment Returns ◽

Explicit Analysis ◽

Social Security Benefits

A number of US states have introduced automatic enrollment retirement accounts as a means to raise retirement savings for lower-income households. The presumption is that such households, whose rates of formal retirement saving are low, would benefit from higher saving and higher incomes in retirement. Nevertheless, there has been little explicit analysis of how much lower-income households should save in excess of their social security contributions. There is also little evidence that many current lower-income retirees are unable to maintain their pre-retirement standards of living. To study this issue, this chapter builds a simple model of retirement saving, allowing for the inclusion of social security benefits, different standards of retirement income adequacy, and different assumptions regarding pre- and post-retirement investment returns. Interestingly, low-income retirees express less satisfaction with the adequacy of their retirement incomes than other retirees, but their self-assessed retirement income adequacy has actually increased in recent years. The chapter also shows that, for very low earners, little savings are necessary on top of social security payments.

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